Air Force hiring event draws thousands with lure of strong-paying jobs

In all, the hiring event drew about 2,500 people who registered beforehand, although pre-registration is not required.

The first applicants lined up at about 7:30 a.m., said Greg Leingang, director of personnel for AFLCMC. By shortly after 9, that line stretched west past Altamira Technologies Corp.’s offices in the Wright Executive Center business park, behind Holiday Inn.

Dayvian Wells, an Air Force reservist in uniform, was among those waiting on Center Point Boulevard.

Though he works in IT security at Air Force Materiel Command headquarters at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Wells was looking for his next opportunity.

“I’m hoping to run into the right people, you know?” the Huber Heights resident said. “You potentially could get a nice contracting job.”

AFLCMC and the 88th Air Base Wing at Wright-Patterson hope to fill some 800 job openings through the public, one-day hiring event at the Holiday Inn, 2800 Presidential Drive. No military job experience was required.

“We’re pretty excited,” Leingang said. “Pretty big turnout.”

AFLCMC is a national organization with nine major locations, and Wright-Patterson is the largest of those. AFLCMC looks to hire some 2,300 people nationwide this fiscal year.

Like the Air Force Materiel Command, AFLCMC is based at Wright-Patterson, home to some 35,000 military and civilian employees.

Starting salaries for entry-level positions are $50,000 to $90,000 a year, AFLCMC says. Mid-level positions can bring $90,000 to $135,000 a year. Senior-level employees and technical specialists can earn up to $185,000.

Applicants let about eight people in at a time from outside to join a second long line within the Holiday Inn, where they checked in further. Organizers determined the fields for which applicants might qualify.

“Once we have that vector, we pull them into that specific, functional line, that career-field line,” Leingang said. “And then there are recruiters who are here for those particular career fields.”

About a hundred people had been hired through quick in-person interviews that were held by mid-day Tuesday, he said.

AFLCMC says there are openings in engineering, financial management, childcare development, program management, IT and other areas. Jobs are located at Wright-Patterson and other AFLCMC locations.

If you’re interested, you can visit https://afciviliancareers.com/wrightpatjobs/ to fill out an application. That web site is operative even beyond Wednesday’s hiring event.

Lisa Neff, a communication graduate from Wright State University, was among the hundreds on hand. She wasn’t about to let the line intimidate her.

“I’m hoping to find something with steady hours and something that makes use of my degree,” said Neff, a Bellbrook resident.

Amani Westry, of Dayton, hoped to find a position in aviation engineering. She has a degree in air traffic management.

“Hopefully, I have some good resume boosters to get me in the door,” she said.

AFLCMC wasn’t the only organization hoping to benefit from Wednesday’s event.

Tom Morland, a senior director for defense for Altamira Technologies (2850 Presidential Drive), took advantage of the line of applicants to tell them about openings his company has. Morland shook hands and passed his business card to several people waiting outside the Holiday Inn.

“They’re lined up right outside our building, on our property, and we thought, ‘What the heck? Why not give them another opportunity in the market?’ ” Morland said.

He was looking for software developers, engineers, data analysts, data engineers, UI/UX developers and business managers.